Republicans continue to hold up the nomination of Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary, today allegedly over her husband's tax liens.
Now, before we think about those tax liens, let's be clear: The delay in confirming Solis is not about taxes. It is about her support for working people. Specifically, as Trapper John wrote yesterday,
So in a nutshell, Solis's opponents are arguing that the US Secretary of Labor should recuse herself from advocating for passage of the most important labor law reform measure facing the United States. Needless to say this is completely insane -- it's akin to saying that the HHS Secretary shouldn't be involved in the health care debate, or that the Defense Secretary shouldn't talk about Iraq. But it's indicative of just how completely scared the Republican Party and its corporate masters are about the workplace democracy promised by the Employee Free Choice Act. No cabinet appointee other than Solis has been subject to such an assault, and it's because Solis is guilty of the GOP's unforgivable sin -- supporting the right of working people to join together and fight for their share of this country's wealth. And if that kind of opposition from the lackeys of the multinationals isn't a sign to you of how good the Employee Free Choice Act would be for working Americans, I don't know what is.
It's important to remember also that the Republicans so opposed to a Secretary of Labor who has opinions on labor issues were happy enough to confirm Elaine Chao for George W. Bush. In that Labor Department, it was just hunky-dory to have an assistant secretary who
was a partner at Jackson Lewis, a well-known unionbusting law firm that trains companies on "How to Stay Union Free" and issues publications highlighting their corporate clients’ success at preventing organizing in the workplace.
But having a Secretary of Labor who had an uncompensated position on the board of an organization in favor of unions and workers' rights? That would be beyond the pale to Senate Republicans.
So, with that as context, just what are these tax problems about?
Public records show that since 1993, two state and 14 Los Angeles County tax liens totaling about $11,640 have been lodged against Sayyad and his business, Sam's Foreign and Domestic Auto Center.
The documents indicate that $6,468 in county liens remained unresolved until Wednesday, when Sayyad paid off the balance, according to the Los Angeles County treasurer and tax collector's office.
A tax lien is a legal claim filed by federal, state or local governments to collect unpaid taxes and fees from individuals and businesses. Anthony Yakimowich, chief deputy treasurer and tax collector for Los Angeles County, said Thursday that Sayyad "has paid everything he owes us."
Yakimowich said liens are not necessarily an indication that a business or an individual is trying to avoid paying taxes. Businesses can run into financial difficulties, and honest disputes can arise, he said.
In a Daily Kos comment, elfling gives a California small business owner's perspective on county taxes:
The particular tax that he was delinquent upon is Los Angeles County "property tax".
The county charges tax on the random equipment you have in your office or shop - your office chairs, your computers, your tools and machines, your staplers, even your pens and pencils and printer paper. Every year I have to declare to my county that I purchased a $5 package of printer paper and a $5 box of pens. They remember what I had last year, too, so they can depreciate last year's big stapler splurge.
I remember when I first found out about this, when I was working in a tiny small business. The county person came around saying we hadn't paid, and started counting computers. The business owner was fit to be tied - he didn't even know such a tax on non-real property existed.
Solis' husband runs a small auto repair shop with three employees. In his case, what is probably driving his bill up is all the tools that his shop has.
This is not a nanny problem or a failure to pay $128,000 in taxes on a car and driver -- in fact, Sayyad's business itself is not worth $128,000. Solis and Sayyad have a net worth of between $131,005 and $315,000, making her the 323rd richest member of the 435-member House of Representatives. We're to believe that this nomination is being delayed (again) because someone other than the nominee was delinquent in taxes on his very small business which the tax collector for the county says are now paid and may well have been the subject of an honest dispute?
No. This nomination is being held up because Solis is perceived as someone who will be on the side of working people if confirmed. It's time for a vote -- and for Senate Republicans to tell the American people why it's OK to confirm a Secretary of Labor who won't investigate mining disasters and fights overtime pay, but not one who'll support the freedom of workers to join unions if they choose.